DUSTIN PENNER MUST UNLEASH HIS INNER MAHOVLICH

* ITEM: I MEAN PETER, NOT FRANK, AND I MEAN JUST A FEW ASPECTS OF PETE’S GAME.

The Oilers Dustin Penner has just a bit of Mahovlich in his game, but it’s enough that it’s worth mentioning.

The Mahovlich boys, Frank and Peter, were skilled in a way that Penner never will be, as witnessed by Frank’s career scoring statistics and Peter’s shorthanded goal in Game 2 against the Soviets in the 1972 Canada-Russia series, one of the handful of memorable goals from that decade.

If you watch that goal you’ll see what I mean that Penner doesn’t have Mahovlich-level finesse. He doesn’t fake slapshots or deke defencemen or goalies like that.

But Penner does have Mahovlich-like reach and range, something that 6-foot, 5-inch Pete, the Little M, employed to his great advantage for the Montreal Candiens as a penalty killer, and something we should see more of from Penner if he continues to kill penalties this year, as he has been doing in the preseason.

Big, mobile guys with long reaches, such as Big Pete, such as Penner, present huge obstacles on all parts of the ice for power play specialists, much more so than little guys like, say, Todd Marchant.

It was always frustrating to see Marchant covering the point on the powerplay. His physical limitations, his short arms and lack of reach, prevented him from breaking up passing plays effectively. But Penner is like an octopus in his his own zone. It’s an experiment I hope to see continue.

Penner is apparently coming off the first-line this year, and while that appears to be fine with the team, with the coach and with Penner himself, I suspect this doesn’t mean a major demotion for the Big P. Penner will be getting almost as much ice time as last season, what with penalty killing and the fragility of other players. Penner looks like a durable player, thick as a red wood, so if others do go down, the Flying Fridge will be ready to step up.

By season’s end, questions about Penner’s value to the team and his big contract likely will not be heard very often in Oil Country. At age 26, he’s in the peak years of his career now. Perhaps he’s also ready to play with more consistency and to constantly flash his many talents, such as hitting, shooting, carrying the puck and manning the defensive wall. Maybe he will do these things two games out of three, instead of just one game out of three. If he does that, he will be a huge part of this Oilers team and an effective part of it.

Here’s how I rated him last season:

First report:

* Dustin Penner. C-plus. His play continues to improve. A useful player on offense, especially when he employs his rumpy-bumpy move, employing his big butt to create space for himself close to the net.

Second report:

* Dustin Penner, C+ The Flying Fridge has been great in so many games, but slumped at the start of the year and is slumping again now. Perhaps he is the victim of high expectations, but he simply needs to be more consistent in his effort. He’s a force screening the goalie and has been OK on defence.

* Dustin Penner, C+ 20 gp, 5 g, 6 a, 11 pts, -7, 4 errors.

He seemed lost after his centerman Horcoff went down about 30 games ago. In key games, though, Penner often played his “A” game, which entails lots of hitting and holding people off the puck as he is ragging it. Scored a few key goals and was solid defensively, rarely making positional mistakes and as solid as any Oilers forward along the wall.

Here’s how the hockey mags see him doing this year. . .

The Score Sports Forecaster says Penner has soft hands but lacks the speed to be a top power forward. “Furthermore, he seems to disappear for long stretches but Edmonton hopes the consistency will come.” The Score predicts 79 games, 25 goals, 20 assists and 45 points.

Name: Mitch Zorich, I give guitar lessons 5 nights a week at Caesars School of Music and give group guitar lessons for Metro Continuing Education.

Musical Background: I have a 2 year music dip loma from Red Deer College and a Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 7 Classical Guitar certificate. Guitar is my primary instrument but I also play bass guitar, and a little drums and piano. Played over the years locally in a few original bands and am currently giving guitar lessons at Caesars School of Music in Riverbend. I’m also doing group guitar courses for Metro Continuing Education.

Hockey Background: I played minor hockey as a kid for several years. I gradually got more into music and stopped playing. Now I’m just a spectator and the Oilers are my favorite team.

What did you think of the old HNIC theme?I think the theme was cool and totally classic. A lot of us grew up listening to it on Saturday nights. I think it was really great of CBC to run the contest. It would have been very easy to just hire a pro songwriter. Getting the fans involved who love the game was a classy move. I’d like to see other Canadian programs do the same thing.

Why did you enter this contest?I write songs at home regularly and I’m also a huge hockey fan. It would be amazing to turn the game on Saturday night and hear your song. I’d like to write music for TV, video games or film one day.Please tell me about your submission:My submission is titled “Fire on Ice” I wanted to create something that reflected the way hockey makes us feel. Therefore the track is up-tempo, exciting, and hard rocking just like the game. It begins with a siren to rev up the viewers and keeps them pumped until the end. The track also features a few different sections that could be edited for various parts of the HNIC program.When I began listening to other entries many of them sounded awesome but I noticed that many people were kind of trying to use the original theme as a template. This is why mine is completely different. The original theme is classic and I had no interest in trying to imitate it. To me that just wouldn’t be right. I wanted my track to be different, I wanted to challenge CBC and the fans to try something new. I think my entry reflects the speed and intensity that the game is played with today. If my entry isn’t chosen it would be cool to see the Oilers use the track to pump up the crowd before games.

P.S. If you’re from Edmonton area and entered this contest and I haven’t contacted you but you’d like to have me post about your on this blog, just answer the questions and drop me a line, dstaples@thejournal.canwest.com, along with a link to your song. I’ll do my best to run submissions as the HNIC contest airs on TV.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.